1) “Wild Cards” return, 9 p.m., CW. The CW’s new owners jettisoned most shows, sometimes replacing them with ones that are co-produced in other countries. Some of those failed, but not “Wild Cards.” It has a clever concept (demoted cop working with a gorgeous grifter), likable stars (Giacomo Gianniotti and Vanessa Morgan, sown ere) and solid mysteries. Now it reruns from the start. Read more…
In the early ‘80s, people were still making movies for folks who rarely went to movies.
Then, Andrew McCarthy recalls, logic intervened: “Hollywood discovered that: ‘Wait a minute, kids go to see a movie five, six, seven times. Grown-ups see a movie once.’”
What followed was dubbed the “Brat Pack” era; McCarthy’s documentary – arriving Thursday (June 13) on Hulu – is simply called “Brats.”.
That “brat pack” phrase – a variation on Frank Sinatra’s “rat pack” — may be unfair. It was fueled by a toxic article David Blum wrote for New York magazine in 1985, shortly before “St. Elmo’s Fire” (shown here) came out. Still, some of the people involved gradually absorbed it. Read more…
1) “Air” (2023), 8-10 p.m..Tuesday, ABC. As a director and star, Ben Affleck has a neat touch with real-life stories that take quirky twists. His “Argo” won the best-picture Oscar; now “Air” has drawn praise in theaters and streaming. Affleck (shown here in a re-created Nike ad) plays Nike owner Phil Knight, with Matt Damon as Knight’s key man in landing Michael Jordan. Read more…
1) “The 1% Club,” 9 p.m., Fox. Amid a summer surge of noisy game shows, this one stands out. It has clever questions, slick exchanges between host Patton Oswalt (shown here) and contestants, and a good concept: This starts with 100 people, then drops them as the questions get increasingly difficult. It’s a bit vague at times, but mostly just fun. Read more…
Long ago, Stefan Dennis showed his limited ability to prophesize the future.
He had been cast in a new soap opera, he recalled. “I said it probably wouldn’t last six months …. I pretty much got that right; it lasted seven months.”
Dennis paused, then added: “Or 40 years.”
The show is “Neighbours” (shown here with Dennis), now a rare examples of forever TV. Canceled after seven months in Australia, it was soon revived by adding a British connection. Canceled again after 37 years, it was revived by adding an American connection.
That’s where it is now, almost 39 years after its Australian debut. Its U.S. home is Amazon Freevee, a streaming service that uses ads rather than subscription. Read more…
1) “Elsbeth,” 9 and 10 p.m., CBS. In between Sunday specials – Dick Van Dyke last week, the Tony Awards next week – CBS has a chance to rerun a couple of clever mysteries. First, Elizabeth Lail (shown here), from “You” and “Ordinary Joe,” plays a schemer who uses beauty, charm and sympathy. Then a bar’s patrons receive empathy and much more. Read more…
1) Tony Awards, 8-11 p.m. Sunday, CBS. In the midst of last year’s writers’ strike, Ariana DeBose hosted a vibrant (and scriptless) ceremony, rippling with music. Now she’s back and has a script. We can expect large-scale numbers from the five best-musical nominees (led by Alicia Keys’ “Hell’s Kitchen,” shown here, with 13 nominations), four best-musical-revival nominees and more. Read more…
1) Saturday Night Live,” 11:29 p.m., NBC. In her seven “SNL” seasons, Kristen Wiig became the show’s clear star. In the dozen years since she left, she’s had some success in movies (especially “Bridesmaids”) and streaming (the recent “Palm Royale,” shown here, on Apple TV+). Here’s a rerun of the April 6 episode, her fifth as host; Raye is the music guest. Read more…
It was the right book at (maybe) the wrong time. That was when Candice Carty-Williams discovered “Bridget Jones’s Diary.”
“I read the book when I was too young, probably,” she told the Television Critics Association. “I stole it from my aunt’s bookshelf and I read it in the summer.”
Later, that would influence “Queenie,” her award-winning debut novel. Heralded as “the Black ‘Bridget Jpones’s Diary,’” it won awards and is now a brief comedy series (shown here), with eight half-hours arriving in one gulp Friday (June 7) on Hulu. Read more…
1) Daytime Emmys, 8-10 p.m., CBS. After shrinking to four best-soap nominees, the field now has six. “General Hospital” (shown here) has won 16 times; others are “Young and the Restless” (11), “Days of Our Lives” (4), “Bold and Beautiful” (3), “Neighbors” and “The Bay.” Talk-show nominees are “The View,” plus the Kelly Clarkson, Jennifer Hudson, Tamron Hall and Robin Roberts shows. Read more…
